The Dubious Luxury Of Fountain Pens

[maukapens]

Sure, fountain pens are a luxury...but not really. Not like Balenciaga or Prada. To me, fountain pens are as luxurious as Netflix. You dont need it, but for not a lot of money it improves your overall quality of life quite a bit. And when money gets tight, you probably dont need to get rid of Netflix or your fountain pens!

[bemon]

You've got a point- and it's one I made a few weeks back on a thread I can't recall the title of. Above a certain dollar amount you stop paying for out of the box performance and start paying for brand cache or trim material. Maybe a fancy filling system that's bound to need maintenance down the road. And sometimes those things are even at the expense of out of the box performance. That all said, it's nice to say "This pen has a gold nib" or "That pen has a platinum plated cap" and that's something I'm definitely guilty of.

 

On the other hand, if someone said I could only have one pen for the rest of my life I'd have a real hard time choosing between my Lamy 2000 or my Pilot Vanishing Point. But it sure wouldn't be my Montblanc, or my GVFC, or my Pelikan. Or any of my pens north of the $200 figure that don't perform any better than my beat up L2K.

Edited September 20, 2019 by bemon

[Karmachanic]

Then there's the $10,000 Urushi fountain pens.

[bemon]

Then there's the $10,000 Urushi fountain pens.

Yeah. I already feel bad about the collection of low to mid range pens I've amassed. I think if I had a spare 10 grand kicking around I'd take my family on a trip and bank the rest.

[Honeybadgers]

And pray tell what is the inherent "luxury" of a mechanical watch movement in a $25,000 rolex when a $25 casio is more reliable and accurate.

 

Luxury is a social construct like any other. Luxury can either be more convenient or less, whichever the average public does not have, or have as much of. usually if something is less convenient (a fountain pen or watch that must be wound) it's considered luxury when you can afford to take the time to use those things. Most people are far too busy to fiddle with a pen or wind a watch, and just want to know what time it is or write something down, rather than enjoy the intricacies related to those things.

 

It's generally trending that way, too, because technology is so ubiquitous that doing things the older, harder, and more expensive way is seen as a show of means, because the newest iphone sure ain't a luxury item when everyone has it. the first LED watches cost as much as a rolex. James bond showed it off. Jimmy carter wore one. Now you can get an LCD (the superior technology to LED) in a happy meal. So where do those with means show off now? they have to buy things that are less convenient, because now TIME is the luxury we're spending, not money.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[Mech-for-i]

Luxury is a concept, a perception, not an absolute fixed equity , when I use fountain pen in my junior school days, no one take a 2nd look since that's what everyone use, when I use it in my high school years, I got some weird look, fellow pals think I am either old fashioned, or weirdo. When I was in college and used my fountain pen then, I got some mixed reaction from the gang when some think its far too complicated and some just find it purely nostalgia and retro. And when I use it in my earlier work years, my colleagues just think its gentlemen and elegant and most of them admire it. Nowadays I still use my fountain pen, and I got people saying I am fashionable, trendy and hip ...

 

Luxury, well even when I am using my Montblanc it does not go through as such with others, they might and often know it as an expensive piece but the reaction is more like - you really do like your pen -

Edited September 20, 2019 by Mech-for-i

[Rancho Gordo]

As some one who came of age in the 1980s, with "le Must de Cartier" and Dynasty and tacky oppulance as the standard, my love for pens has nothing to do with luxury. I feel a real connection to the paper when the ink flows via a fountain pen. It's almost as if you're seeing your personality in front of you. That's the luxury. To express yourself in this way.

[silverlifter]

Luxury

[OmegaMountain]

Then there's the $10,000 Urushi fountain pens.

I think the argument could be made that those items move more into the realm of artwork than just a luxury item. It's all a matter of perspective though.

[Honeybadgers]

I think the argument could be made that those items move more into the realm of artwork than just a luxury item. It's all a matter of perspective though.

 

I agree with this. Maki-E is art first, pen second.

 

Those tacky, godawful jewel encrusted montblancs and visconti's that cost 40 grand just for the sake of being expensive are closer to the "luxury" argument.

 

But relative price matters too. People don't bat an eye at the new iPhone costing $1,600, an item they replace every year or two at most, but go full pearl-clutching when I tell them the fisher ballpoint I handed them cost $40. The $40 pen is seen as a luxury, whereas the ungodly expensive phone is just a cost of life.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[Karmachanic]

Perhaps the OP was referring to the dubious the luxury of the $4.50 pens he sells?

Edited September 21, 2019 by Karmachanic

[bizhe]

The ability to have discussions like this is a luxury.

[Misfit]

I bat an eye at the new iPhone costs. I will never pay them. That’s why last year I got a new iPhone during Black Friday deals, an iPhone 7.

 

What I find funny is I took a college class called The Dynamics of Leisure because there was supposed to be so much of it (leisure time). Oh those late 20th century ideas. Too bad it is not true today.

[inkstainedruth]

I was in a yarn store treating myself and also honoring the memory of a friend who died of cancer Friday night (in lieu of flowers her husband said that she wanted people to send a donation to Planned Parenthood and to shop at a small business or artist). I used the Forest Green Parker 51 (with its newly tweaked EF nib) to sign the credit card slip. The nine skeins of yarn I bought (enough for 3 pairs of hand-knitted socks for myself in different colors) cost more than 5-1/2 times what the pen cost, including the nib work, since I'd bought the pen about a year ago for two bucks at an estate sale. So which is more "luxurious" -- a vintage pen rescued from an untimely demise in a trash heap (it is after all a 51 Aero, and just needed to be flushed well to get writing, just that the EF nib was scratchy) or, three pairs of hand knit socks when I can go to Sam's Club and buy a 4 pack of a name brand for $10 US (list price $40)? And I know this because I just bought such a package of socks a few days ago.

Heck, just two of those nine skeins together cost more than the pen PLUS the nib work.

The woman at the counter was an older lady, who, when she realized it was a fountain pen, said that she used to use fountain pens all the time -- and thought she might still have hers at home. So, a win-win all around as far as I'm concerned (and one of the few times anyone actually has noticed what I'm using for signing credit card receipts or making a doctor's appointment or something).

Or, as the old TV ad (I think it might have been for shampoo) said -- "Because I'm worth it!"

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: When I bought my first "good" pen (the Parker Vector) I thought that paying $9 for a pen that I was ONLY using for my journal entries was the height of extravagance. Now, it's more like "Oh I only paid [two or three figure price, depending] for this pen...."

Edited September 21, 2019 by inkstainedruth

[AD43]

I often have to point out that despite me spending loads on pens my peers themselves spend similar amounts on video games, tech and daft clothing.

[samasry]

I've had too much fun with the first two installments

• The Irreverent Rebelliousness Of Fountain Pens
• The Dubious Luxury Of Fountain Pens

This would definitely surpass Homer's Trilogy if we could add the following meisterstück

 

• The condescending condensation of FPN piston/converters

[Randal6393]

I was in a yarn store treating myself and also honoring the memory of a friend who died of cancer Friday night (in lieu of flowers her husband said that she wanted people to send a donation to Planned Parenthood and to shop at a small business or artist). I used the Forest Green Parker 51 (with its newly tweaked EF nib) to sign the credit card slip. The nine skeins of yarn I bought (enough for 3 pairs of hand-knitted socks for myself in different colors) cost more than 5-1/2 times what the pen cost, including the nib work, since I'd bought the pen about a year ago for two bucks at an estate sale. So which is more "luxurious" -- a vintage pen rescued from an untimely demise in a trash heap (it is after all a 51 Aero, and just needed to be flushed well to get writing, just that the EF nib was scratchy) or, three pairs of hand knit socks when I can go to Sam's Club and buy a 4 pack of a name brand for $10 US (list price $40)? And I know this because I just bought such a package of socks a few days ago.

Heck, just two of those nine skeins together cost more than the pen PLUS the nib work.

The woman at the counter was an older lady, who, when she realized it was a fountain pen, said that she used to use fountain pens all the time -- and thought she might still have hers at home. So, a win-win all around as far as I'm concerned (and one of the few times anyone actually has noticed what I'm using for signing credit card receipts or making a doctor's appointment or something).

Or, as the old TV ad (I think it might have been for shampoo) said -- "Because I'm worth it!"

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: When I bought my first "good" pen (the Parker Vector) I thought that paying $9 for a pen that I was ONLY using for my journal entries was the height of extravagance. Now, it's more like "Oh I only paid [two or three figure price, depending] for this pen...."

Well, Ruth, the need to wear compression socks is what killed my sock-knitting.

[Bo Bo Olson]

There is Krone.....a bit too garish and expensive for most.....gets very little play here.

There are some real fancy MB's. I saw the Brandenburg LE going for then 10 years ago for E18,000 plus change in my B&M.

 

I saw some sort of Monteverdy in a live auction, with it's very own Temple......one would have one's secretary carry it on a silk pillow when one signs the upgrades of one yacht from 285 to 320 feet.

 

They wanted E2,000 or so for it at the live auction. I held the club....take me .... months to get strong enough to write my name with that huge thing............didn't sell......didn't sell at a later live auction for E1,500 either..........An ultimate Bling Thing....like I said with it's very own Teak Temple.

 

I must say Prada came into my vocabulary with the movie. I sadly don't read the right magazines, there are lots of famous Italian company's that I've heard about. On the whole I don't care for their 'smart, modern' design.

 

Balenciaga just heard of now....not all that expensive I see.

Co Co Chanel still makes cloths.

 

I have of course heard of Louis Vuitton long ago, but Samsonite does just fine....and I'm not sure how well first class luggage is handled better than Sardine Class. Herring Class's luggage gets handled just like Sardine Class.

 

To fly with Loui's stuff one would have to have a dammed good lawyer and then one would find themselves on various Black Lists, for the Airlines to have to buy it new, again and again.

Almost forgot....Status purses and wallets, made by Loui V are very, very, very well made. Same goes for Prada....I have heard. Have seen some Loui V stuff.

 

The top class stuff has to be perfect in every way you can imagine, or it's a fake.

 

If you are into grand glass still made, Moser is a fine name.There are still manufactured other fine glass too. But for my emotional stability I don't want to :crybaby:if I chip one.

 

I only have one pen that cost new (I got it on sale for 1/3 off,) that costs as much as one mocha cup and saucer of the famous Swan service my wife bought at Meisen factory.

 

Of course I'm into old cheap pens....vintage, one gets a flagship at rowboat prices. Great balance and better nibs too.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[mana]

<p>

 

I've had too much fun with the first two installments

• The Irreverent Rebelliousness Of Fountain Pens
• The Dubious Luxury Of Fountain Pens

This would definitely surpass Homer's Trilogy if we could add the following meisterstück

• The condescending condensation of FPN piston/converters

😂